Chapter 2

Sakura barely touched her breakfast. Instead, she watched the professors at the head table converse with one another nervously about the Daily Prophet. The diplomacy convention did not seem to be going well, but they'd been saying the same thing for weeks. Sakura glanced down at the paper in her hand, trying to find out why they seemed more upset than yesterday. The correspondent was the same, Yuki. The interviewee was different, Jiraiya. She pulled out her last paper and compared the words from the last interview. Honestly, they could have been the same people interviewed between the two days and she wouldn't have known. The pureblood students didn't seem to be reacting to it. Maybe there was something else going on?

Sakura scanned the gossip section, nothing of interest there.

Her eyes wandered up in thought, and she watched Naruto devour a giant muffin in three bites. A different kind of excitement entered her stomach. Today, she'd get some answers at least.

After morning classes, she raced down from Arithmancy to their Transfiguration study session instead of continuing with Shikamaru like normal to the great hall to collect a plate for lunch. Thus, she was the first to arrive in the small empty classroom, as the boys came from Care of Magical Creatures. She began laying out the supplies. The teakettles and teacups along with reference books were neatly laid out by the time the boys arrived.

Naruto was the first. A piece of bread dangled from his mouth and the aroma of broth swept the room upon his entry. Sakura's stomach quietly growled at the scent, and that was when regret for rushing to set up the room instead of going to fetch food and being last to arrive like normal hit her.

Naruto attempted to say hello, but only murffed at her as he set down his bowl and bookbag. He looked around, desperately seeking a place to set the bread.

Sakura gave a sigh and ripped a page from her notebook before turning it into a handkerchief and setting it next to his bowl.

Instead of removing the bread with his now free hands like a normal person, he instead leaned over and let the piece fall from his mouth.

Sakura raised a brow, but didn't comment on it. "Did you forget silverware, too?"

Naruto's eyes widened in horror and he began patting his pockets and pulling things out of them. An extra yellow tie, and way too many spider lollipops littered the table but no spoon. "Oh no, I'm going to have to go back."

Sakura then cleared her throat and motioned to the teacups upon the table.

"You can't drink soup from a porcelain teacup, it's uncouth Sakura," Naruto reprimanded. "At least in the wizarding world…" he tacked on, as if half of what she did was purely because she was muggleborn.

Her left eye twitched. "We are here to study Transfiguration, you can transfigure a spoon. No need to go back down three flights of stairs."

Naruto gave a whimper, "But we haven't started studying yet…"

Both of her eyes felt like they were twitching now.

The door opened and Sasuke walked through, a plate in hand. He set it upon the table, his proportions of food like the pyramid she was forced to study in muggle school. He retrieved a set of silverware wrapped in a green cloth napkin from his bag.

Naruto leaned over and inspected both Sasuke's plate and his cutlery. "Are you going to use that spoon?"

Sasuke gave Naruto one long look before giving a hn. He picked up the spoon before extending it to Naruto.

"No, don't just give in," Sakura whined, grabbing Naruto's wrist before he could snatch it. "Make him practice transfiguring something, like a quill."

Sasuke raised a brow. "And when it fails halfway through usage, we'd be the ones to have to clean up the mess. He isn't going to do it."

Naruto plucked the spoon from Sasuke's hand, "Yeah, Sakura, listen to - wait, what did you just say?"

Sasuke smirked. "Dope."

Realizing he'd been insulted, Naruto rose up in anger. "Bast-"

"Boys," Sakura said, attempting to keep the peace. "Come on, let's finish lunch. Your soup will get cold."

That at least got Naruto to sit back down and begin eating, though Sasuke kept his smirk as he started on his salad.

Her foot began tapping in anticipation of what she really wanted to start doing – interrogating.

Sasuke noticed the noise first and his gaze focused on the empty spot before her. "Are you not going to eat?"

"Nah, not hungry." Well, that was a bit of a lie. But she had more important things to worry about than food.

Sasuke gave a shrug and turned his attention back to his own plate.

She let them take a few bites before she finally couldn't contain herself any longer. "I was wondering…"

Both of them raised their heads slowly, watching each other before turning to her. What was with that look?

"Do any of you know someone by the name, Izumi?" Sakura asked as she fiddled with her quill, ripping out some of the white downy barbs. She may or may not have made direct and deep eye-contact with Sasuke.

Sasuke raised a brow. "You mean Izumi Uchiha? She's an eighth cousin, sixth year, same as Itachi. They are betrothed. Oh, she's in Gryffindor."

"B-b-betrothed?" Sakura stuttered, mind freezing on the word. Betrothed. As in, engaged? As in, Itachi had proposed to this girl? He had a girlfriend!

Sasuke tilted his head and Naruto gave Sakura a strange look as well.

Sakura gave a cough and attempted to recover, dropping the quill upon the table. She ignored the feathery mess of barbs and white dust on her black robes. "They are so young, I didn't hear any news about Itachi proposing."

The confusion in both of their looks did not change.

"Itachi didn't propose," Sasuke finally provided, giving a shrug Sakura deemed 'must-be-a-muggle-thing' towards Naruto. "The marriage was arranged."

Sakura gagged on air. She leapt to her feet a moment later, feathers flying, hands upon the table. "An arranged marriage? In this day and age?" Why hadn't she heard this before? Why was every girl in her dorm whispering about Itachi then? "That's a thing here? Who has that power?" Further, had a marriage been arranged on her behalf as well? Who the hell would they push her with? Could she get out of it? Had this also been in that stupid contract to attend school?

"My father and Izumi's father arranged it when Itachi was born. It's typical for clan heirs to have an arranged marriage. Naruto has a betrothed as well."

Sakura's eyes widened to saucers and she looked at her blonde haired friend. She dropped back into her seat, energy sapped. How had this not come up? Why had this not come up?

Immediately, Sakura began blinking away tears realizing the impact. Poor Hinata. Hinata was so in love with Naruto. Sakura had imagined they'd one day be happily married, have a few kids, be cute and bashful together like when they did group projects together. Oh, this was a disaster. How could the headmaster force Naruto to marry anyone? It was clear Naruto had a thing for her as well.

"Who?" she whispered. "Don't you get a say in one of the most important choices in your life? Is there any way you can get out of it? What a horror." Sakura shuddered trying to imagine her father signing her up for such a thing. But then, he wouldn't. What a blessing. She'd been born to parents who would let her choose.

Silence descended upon the table.

Naruto narrowed his gaze. "Hinata and I get along just fine."

Wait. What?

"Hinata and you are engaged?"

"Betrothed," Naruto and Sasuke corrected at the same time.

Sakura pressed her hands to her temples, attempting to understand the strangeness of the wizarding world.

"Look Sakura," Naruto said, scratching the back of his head. "I don't know if you have a thing for me, but this is getting awkward –"

She didn't let Naruto imagine that for a moment. She extended her hand and waved it quickly. "No, I don't have a thing for you. I just always imagined you and Hinata together, you're so cute. And when I heard you were betrothed, I thought… Well I thought it was to someone I hadn't met and that Hinata would be upset. She absolutely loves you."

Sakura paused as Naruto's face turned beet red. Whoops. Maybe she shouldn't have confessed Hinata's undying love for Naruto to his face. "Sorry," Sakura winced. Well, the cat was out of the bag now.

Sweat trickled down Naruto's face. "You really think she loves me?"

Well, time to dig a deeper grave. "Yes. No doubt in my mind."

"Dope," Sasuke sighed. "It's obvious to everyone but you."

Naruto's ears turned crimson and he stuttered in his fluster. But he recovered well enough. "Dattaboy!" he whooped, jumping from his seat. He pumped his arms in the air.

So cute! They really were meant to be.

Sakura turned to look at Sasuke. "But don't you think it's a little strange, the whole betrothal business? I mean, it works for Naruto and Hinata," Sakura quickly corrected, so she would not offend. "But what if Izumi isn't a nice person to your brother. Or –"

"There are safeguards in place in the contract. A betrothal isn't permanent, and there are situations that can nullify it. Either Itachi or Izumi could decide to break it once they come into their majority, but it would be a bit of a scandal should they do so. And there would be consequences. But that's life. It's pretty normal for purebloods."

"What about you? Are you betrothed, too?"

Sasuke shook his head. "No. I was at one point, but the contract became nullified when her family didn't honor the trade agreement with ours."

Trade agreement? None of it sat right with Sakura, and she shivered at the idea of being tied to someone for such reasons. What if they turned out to be an asshole when they got older? Or they took advantage of the situation? But then, she looked at Naruto's rosy cheeks. Maybe one could find love in it all. Naruto had.

And Itachi, that special smile he'd given her when he'd said Izumi's name. It had been for Izumi, not Sakura. He'd wanted her to be his betrothed. Sakura flushed, only to be immediately hit by guilt. Now, she felt awful. She'd snoozled up to a promised man. Her mother would be so ashamed. Not that anything had happened! But still. No doubt, if he'd known she was someone other than his significant other, he'd have second thoughts about her sleeping in his bed while curled in his arms, receiving tummy rubs. Oh gosh, the tummy rubs.

Gah, she hid her face in shame. Everything came down to Izumi if one thought about it. The guy was in love with another woman and she'd gotten some of that affection. Had she catfished this guy by accident?

"Are you ok?"

"Still reeling from wizarding culture," Sakura confessed weakly before lifting her head and turning her attention to the Transfiguration text in front of her. She needed to tell Itachi the truth. Or at least, tell him she wasn't Izumi. What if he got angry and proceeded to turn her over to the aurors?

But she forced herself to focus on the task at hand. Teaching these fools how to transfigure teacups.

She turned her attention to the boys, and her eyes or rather her stomach sixth-sensed the food and let out a loud growl.

With a sigh, Sasuke shoved the rest of his plate over to her.

As if she needed more to feel guilty about. How many times would she wrong the Uchiha clan? She pushed the plate back. "I'm good," Sakura said with a twisted smile, "but thanks."

Both Naruto and Sasuke made eye-contact.

Naruto jumped from his seat, empty bowl clattering upon the table. "I need more soup," he announced to Sasuke before turning to Sakura. He clapped his hands together to beg. "Can we, just for today, study in the Great Hall? I super, totally, absolutely promise to not get distracted."

Before she could protest verbally, her stomach growled at the same decibel as Naruto's voice. Her cheeks heated and she dipped her head to hide the flush. "Just this once," she gave in and began packing away the supplies. "But," she held up her finger, "we quiz each other on the way down." She left out the flashcards.

Naruto whimpered but he conceded defeat and they left for the Great Hall together.

As she attempted to reign in Naruto's attention to focus on Transfiguration, because the second he sat down he attempted to make conversation with Choji, Sasuke made her a plate similar to his own. They made minimal progress, but Sakura had to cross her fingers behind her back for her two friends as they walked into the class together. Sasuke would likely ace the practical, but if the written portion wasn't multiple choice he'd be screwed. Naruto… Well, she ended up crossing all the fingers and toes she could.

However, her worries had all been for naught. Naruto, having found his courage, walked right up to Hinata who was seated in the first row. Naruto grabbed her hand and placed it on his own, pancaking it.

"I love you," he practically yelled to the entire room.

Needless to say, Hinata had needed immediate transport to the hospital wing as she fainted onto a porcelain teapot upon her desk and smashed it to pieces. This caused such a commotion of blood, gore and gossip that the test got moved to the next session.

Sasuke had tapped her shoulder in comradery on her way out of the classroom. "Nice job on getting the test moved so we could study more."

Sure. Like that had been her plan from the get go. She gave an awkward laugh in response.

During the last class of the day, both reappeared, Hinata having made a full recovery. The lovebirds sat together in the first row of Charms across the semi-circle from Sakura. She couldn't help but watch the two of them turn crimson at the slight graze of shoulders, or arms, or if their gazes met. So cute.

Now she needed to figure out how to deal with Itachi.

After gathering more intel in the form of a yearbook during free period, Sakura eyed the Gryffindor table at dinner, looking for Izumi. And there she was. She was prettier than Ouka, Itachi's female prefect counterpart in Ravenclaw Tower. Her smile, wider and she laughed easily at whatever conversation was going on around her. She had loads of friends, the seats beside and around her packed tight. Her eyes shimmered in the candle light, her cheeks rosy with life and love.

And now that she knew, Sakura could see that Itachi could not take his eyes off of her. Even when he turned to speak to someone beside him, he would not let her leave the corner of his vision.

He was smitten.

Then, Sakura became acutely aware of the empty seats beside her. Shikamaru was eating at the Gryffindor table with Choji, which pretty much left her all alone. She usually would go with him, as Ino typically sat with Choji and the others. But she and Ino were still fighting over their differing study habits. Ino typically used all her spare time to do makeup and superficial facial spells and Sakura… well, who the hell cared about appearances when the world was about to break out in war? It was time to buckle down. But nobody else seemed to give a damn. Her fists clenched under the table.

Around her, everyone seemed happy. Hopeful for the future.

Her eyes picked out other muggleborns of her year, far more integrated with their year mates and happy being wizards and witches. She found Lee – he was with Neji and another prefect at the Slytherin table – engrossed in some conversation.

Did the muggleborns even consider what would happen if they went to war? Had they read the contract they had signed to get schooling? What else didn't they know?

Her gaze fell to Itachi and she followed his eyes to Izumi.

Had everyone else known that betrothals were a thing?

Sakura pushed food around on her plate.

She felt a bit empty, knowing the truth. Hallowed from the inside. It had been a cute crush, and she'd let it fester.

Surely, everyone else had been just as naive as her? She'd traced the magical graffiti, watching Itachi's name glow and glitter with hearts, in the third floor bathroom like all the other girls before her, wishing her penmanship was better. Knowing other girls were just like her didn't stop her heart feeling the sting, though.

What had she been thinking?

That she was special to Itachi. She snorted at herself. No, he'd just been confused. The only reason he'd been so comfortable with her was because… Her gaze narrowed in on the tiny nose and normal-sized forehead of Izumi Uchiha. Itachi thought she was that. Cute. Graceful. Pretty. Fun.

Perhaps she should feel some lightness. Of all the people to be mistaken for, a beautiful and happy girl with a dazzling smile was not so bad. But Sakura didn't have proper posture, her forehead was the size of a mountain and graceful, yeah right, maybe compared to a mountain troll. On that note… How had Itachi come to the conclusion that she was Izumi?

Just how lovestruck was he?

Actually, she really didn't want to know. Sakura removed her gaze from Gryffindor only for it to fall upon the Hufflepuff table. Her body tensed. Two black orbs met her gaze.

Kisame.

Nobody important, my ass.

What a piece of shit.

He was trying to make some sort of hand gesture pointing towards the doors, but whatever he was alluding to mystified Sakura. Instead, she flipped him off and turned back to her plate. Jerk. What had he hoped to do, make a fool of her? Make a fool of Itachi? Her fingers curled into a fist around her fork. Gosh, what would have happened to Itachi had he been caught with her? Would he have lost honor, Izumi, the title of heir, everything? Or had Kisame just set out to humiliate and disgrace her?

Sakura blinked down at her plate, eyes beginning to burn. She'd even begun to think of Kisame as a friend. Her lip curled. She'd been anticipating winter break with excitement, looking forward to riding the bus together after they got off at King's Crossing. They could have hung out a lot, being in the same neighborhood. Maybe she wouldn't have been so alone. She stabbed at the porkchop in anger, causing the second-year student closest to her to scoot towards their yearmates before they started whispering.

Instead, Kisame had been setting her up for failure. He'd said he was Itachi's friend. He knew that Izumi was Itachi's betrothed. That had been the look. And he'd lead her along with a carrot, all for some cruel prank.

Knowing she couldn't take another bite, she dropped her fork on the plate and let the knife remain straight up in the pork chop. She rose stiffly. She headed for the doors, head down, trying not to look at all the happy people around her. Once free of the hall, she took a tired breath and sniffed. Her heart felt even heavier than when at the dinner table, but at least her eyes weren't burning anymore. She began to make her way to the dormitory, going up the staircase.

"Hold up."

Sakura peeked over the banister to glare down at Kisame.

"Look, just give me five minutes." Kisame opened his hands in a plea.

"So you can just lie to my face?" she asked. She didn't wait for a reply. In anger, she turned and continued her ascent.